Michelle Karl Interview

Q: How long have you been writing and what other careers or jobs have you had?

A:  I’ve been writing for as long as I could pick up a pencil and shape letters, or at least that’s what my parents tell me! My earliest taste of “being a writer” came from a writing contest I entered in second grade. My poem won me a t-shirt and publication in a little local newsletter booklet. Since then, all of my other jobs have really been stepping stones toward that goal: Grocery store bagger, paper delivery girl, soccer ref, bookstore clerk, banquet & restaurant server, dance teacher, freelancer writer, college professor. Every job was short-lived and directed me toward one thing: Spending my life writing stories.

Q: Do you write in only one genre and if so which one and why? If not, which ones and why?

A: Right now, inspirational romantic suspense is all you’ll see from Michelle Karl. I love the fast pace, the whirlwind romance amid heightened tensions, and the way the faith element is present but doesn’t overwhelm the story. I have written a contemporary inspy novella, but whether that will see the light of day remains to be seen. Maybe someday!

Q: How does your faith play into your writing?

A:  Present, pervasive, progressive, and personal. That’s how I see my own faith journey, one of progress but which is a constant part of my life. The personal aspect is, of course, critical—I call out to God in times of need but I also can forget to rely on Him when I need Him the most, which I try to also reflect in my characters.

Q: How do you choose your settings for your books?

A:  I go with what works for the plot! Setting comes after I have a basic concept solidified in my mind. For example, my first book required a very specific setting since the plot revolved around a ferry stuck in ice. For Unknown Enemy, I had to think a little harder about where characters in their particular situation could realistically be found.

Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made up?

A: I’d say that all my characters contain some aspect of myself—I mean, they have to, I created them! But beyond that, I don’t deliberately base characters off people I know, aside from maybe one trait here or there. Oh, with one exception that comes immediately to mind! In Unknown Enemy, there’s a receptionist in the college department where my main character works who is very closely based off the receptionist from the college department where I went to school. The woman was incredible, without her I feel like the entire department would have come crashing down.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Unknown Enemy?

A: I like to summarize it like this: Ancient artifacts! Secret service! Conspiracy! Danger! Romance. (I figure if that doesn’t pique one’s interest, maybe this book isn’t for them. Haha!)

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for this story?

A: I attended university for Near Eastern Archaeology & Classical Studies, and I love ancient history. One of my very best friends—whom the book is actually dedicated to—still studies the ancient Near East, translating ancient tablets and documents, and she once told me that there were all these crates of untouched, unstudied tablets sitting in the basements of British museums, just waiting for someone qualified enough and with enough time to translate and study them. I thought, what if one of those tablets contained information that could change the course of an entire country’s history? Everything else about the story flowed from there.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?

A: No matter what you’ve been through, no matter how “broken” you feel you are—it could be physical appearance, or mentally, or even where you are in life right now—God can make all things new. All things!

Q: Tell us what you like about the main characters of this book.

A: Both the heroine and hero see themselves as scarred individuals for whom healing is out of reach—Ginny carries a physical scar from childhood and Colin carries an invisible scar due to circumstances. They both must make transformative journeys to discover that God can, indeed, heal all hurts.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?

A:   I’m currently in the midst of revisions for my next Love Inspired Suspense release, coming next year! The heroine’s family is actually from Amar, the fictional country that appears in Unknown Enemy—and there are a few additional character cameos too, from both Unknown Enemy and my previous release, Fatal Freeze. The hero is a brand new FBI agent, and it was fun to develop a hero who, while strong and intelligent, has far less on-the-job experience than my previous heroes.

Q: If money were no object what vacation would you like to take and why?

A:  I’d head to New Zealand and do every single Lord of the Rings tour offered. The landscape of New Zealand is just so incredible and gorgeous…and it would it be so much fun to pretend to be a hobbit or an elf while trekking across the terrain!

Q: What is the silliest thing you have ever done?

A:  Honestly, it’s difficult to choose, because I make “silly” a daily part of life. I was raised to not take life too seriously—a family motto is essentially “we’re proof that God has a sense of humor”—so whether it’s dancing down the grocery store aisles while waving a package of bacon over my head or serving pizza at my wedding, I’m on board with being silly, 100%.

Q: What is the hardest thing you have ever done?

A:  I gave up a university scholarship to pursue a writing career. On the surface, it sounds awful, but looking back I know without a doubt that it was the right thing to do. I’d always dreamt of continuing my education, but when the time came to tackle the next degree, I felt a nudging that God had different plans for me. It was a terribly hard thing to do, but I have no regrets.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet?

A:  I’m active on both Twitter and Facebook! Find me on Twitter here: @_MichelleKarl_ and on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/MichelleKarlAuthor/ I also have a website—www.MichelleKarl.com—but I’m a terrible blogger so I only post there occasionally. One day I’ll get the hang of it!

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us? 

A:  Thank you so much for having me here today, and thank you so much to the visitors here for sticking around and reading this interview! Also, thank you to my readers—past, present and future—and I dearly hope that you enjoy Unknown Enemy as much as I enjoyed writing it. The story, as I’ve mentioned, has a strong personal element for me with the tie-in to ancient history, but also with my heroine’s scars…I actually have severe psoriasis, so I know what it’s like to wake up and not feel comfortable in one’s skin. But with God’s grace, I take it day by day. Have a blessed week, everyone! And happy reading!